On a more serious note I have convinced myself that over population will cause tremendous negative changes (setting GW aside for the moment although I do consider it real an a consequence of over population.) I have also convinced myself that it is not within humanities capabilities to deal with it. Paradoxically I can not think of a good argument to tell people to NOT have kids for usually it is our best and brightest that figure it out first. Thus that strategy would lead to reverse natural selection and a general degradation of the gene pool. Nor can I believe that we would engage in selective breeding without first going through some horrible cataclysm.

It is a truly depressing situation to contemplate, thus you get silly jokes, even though our future is no joke.

It is a truly depressing situation to contemplate, thus you get silly jokes, even though our future is no joke.

It's less depressing when you look at the historical picture, and the relation of affluence to birthrates. The quick version is: wealthy people have fewer kids. So, the best way to avoid overpopulating the Earth is to help everyone get rich! (Incidentally, that same wealth would allow everyone to deal much more easily with any potential problems related to climate change. But I suppose it's a truism that having wealth makes just about anything easier.)

The trick is convincing all the newly affluent people not to go sailing. We'd never find an anchorage!

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__________________"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." --Ferris Bueller